February 1, 1995: Richey Edwards leaves his apartment in Cardiff, Wales, and is never definitively seen again. The guitarist for the band Manic Street Preachers was 27. (Yes, there's that age claiming a rock star again.) He had been dealing with depression through alcoholism and self-harm, and the leading theory, disputed by many, is that he jumped off a bridge.
He may not have died that day. A taxi driver reported picking up a man who fit his description on February 7. On February 14, his car, apparently lived in, was ticketed at the Severn View services (rest area) on the M48 motorway in Gloucestershire, England, across the Severn Bridge from his hometown of Cardiff. The bridge had been known for its suicide jumpers. But he might not have jumped. There have been reported sightings in Spain's Canary Islands and in India.
Manic Street Preachers, or just "The Manics," released their debut album, Generation Terrorists, in 1992. Their 1st single was "Stay Beautiful" -- which came out 15 years before Taylor Swift had a song by the same title. (See also: "Carey, Mariah, 'Shake It Off'"; "Sedaka, Neil, 'Bad Blood'")
The Manics were about to tour America in support of their 3rd album, The Holy Bible, for which Edwards had written the majority of the lyrics, when Edwards disappeared. They became considerably more famous outside Britain as a result of his disappearance: Their best-known song, "If You Tolerate This Your Children Will Be Next" came in 1998, so Edwards had nothing to do with it... unless somebody's keeping a big secret.
*
February 1, 1995 was a Wednesday. Baseball was out of season. Football season ended the preceding Sunday, with the San Francisco 49ers beating the San Diego Chargers in the Super Bowl. There were 10 games played in the NBA:
* The New Jersey Nets beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 95-77 at the Brendan Byrne Arena at the Meadowlands.
* The Charlotte Hornets beat the Boston Celtics, 100-93 at the Boston Garden.
* The Philadelphia 76ers beat the Washington Bullets, 98-89 at The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
* The Atlanta Hawks beat the Golden State Warriors, 111-99 at The Omni in Atlanta.
* The Miami Heat beat the Detroit Pistons, 98-75 at the Miami Arena.
* The Indiana Pacers beat the Cleveland Cavaliers, 101-82 at the Market Square Arena in Indianapolis.
* The Dallas Mavericks beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 104-83 at the Target Center in Minneapolis.
* The Utah Jazz beat their arch-rivals, 129-88 at the Delta Center in Salt Lake City, Utah.
* The Phoenix Suns beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 118-109 at the America West Arena (now the Mortgage Matchup Center) in Phoenix.
* And the San Antonio Spurs beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 111-107 at the Portland Memorial Coliseum. David Robinson scored 34 points and grabbed 19 rebounds.
And there were 6 games played in the NHL:
* The New York Rangers lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3 at the Civic Arena in Pittsburgh.
* The Hartford Whalers lost to the Ottawa Senators, 2-1 at the Ottawa Civic Centre (now the TD Place Arena).
* The Dallas Stars beat the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim, 9-2 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.
* The Calgary Flames beat the Detroit Red Wings, 2-1 at the Saddledome in Calgary.
* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Edmonton Oilers, 7-0 at the Northlands Coliseum in Edmonton.
* And the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Vancouver Canucks played to a tie, 4-4 at the Pacific Coliseum in Vancouver.
And Arsenal, the North London soccer team I would eventually come to support, played the 1st leg of the European Super Cup, between the holders of the European Cup, the UEFA Champions League, AC Milan, and the holders of the European Cup Winners' Cup, Arsenal, at the Arsenal Stadium, a.k.a. Highbury for its North London neighborhood. The Gunners and the Rossoneri played to a 0-0 draw. The following week, at the San Siro in Milan, Milan won, 2-0, to take the Cup.
No comments:
Post a Comment